“I’m one of your middle-class Americans, and quite frankly I’m exhausted. I’m exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that I voted for, and deeply disappointed with where we are right now.” African-American Woman to Barack Obama, 9/20/10

Fouad Ajami: 58% of Arabs Disapprove of GZ Site for Mosque

“The truth is that the trajectory of Islam in America (and Europe for that matter) is at variance with the play of things in Islam’s main habitat. A survey by Elaph, the most respected electronic daily in the Arab world, gave a decided edge to those who objected to the building of this mosque—58% saw it as a project of folly.

“Elaph was at it again in the aftermath of Pastor Terry Jones’s threat to burn copies of the Quran: It queried its readers as to whether America was a “tolerant” or a “bigoted” society. The split was 63% to 37% in favor of those who accepted the good faith and pluralism of this country.”

Andy McCarthy: Ground Zero – Rauf Trained NYT Reporter

“A reporter who helped write the first and positive New York Times story on the Ground Zero Mosque was trained by the group run by mosque leader Feisal Abdul Rauf, according to that group’s website….

“In addition to the questions raised about Rauf and his organizations, he and his partner in the mosque project have had their business integrity challenged. The New York Daily Newsreported Wednesday that developer Sharif El-Gamal was evicted from his New York offices for failing to pay $39,000 in back rent. “His company also owes the city more than $270,000 in back taxes, which he started paying last week.

Jennifer Rubin: Vote Fraud – “Truth, Justice, or the Obama Way”

Remember your Notice of Individual Action…. The Inquirer reported Sunday that Mayor Nutter is disliked by blacks…would investigation and corrective action get him some white votes?….

“The Justice Department is forced to investigate itself.

“…despite Adams’s testimony that the case was indicative of a widespread aversion in the Voting Section to colorblind enforcement of the civil rights laws, the media framed the story as an isolated case unworthy of continuing coverage. After all, just one witness was claiming that this was the mindset in the Justice Department. And besides, the head of the Civil Rights Division, Thomas Perez, had testified before both Congress and the commission that the case was legally and factually defective. He had also insisted there was no opposition in the department to enforcing civil rights laws against minority defendants.

“In fact, there is ample evidence, including Justice Department emails obtained by The Weekly Standard, that Perez testified untruthfully. There is every reason to believe, moreover, that if allowed to testify, several other Justice Department attorneys would substantiate Adams’s allegations and contradict Perez’s sworn testimony. Not to mention that the department itself acknowledged last week that the matter of biased enforcement of voting laws requires investigation.”

“Judicial Watch made an explosive announcement today about the Justice Department’s stonewalling in the New Black Panther voter intimidation case dismissal. Forced to bring a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit after DOJ rebuffed its public records request (so much for transparency), Judicial Watch obtained a privilege log from the DOJ last week.

“It shows — in a rather dramatic way — that the DOJ has been untruthful about who was involved in the dismissal of the case.”

Deroy Mardock: Justice Yawns about Military Votes

“Imagine if five states announced that they lacked the money and manpower to ship ballots to precincts in predominantly black rural counties before the fall federal election. The Justice Department would, appropriately, shift into fifth gear to assure that those Americans could vote on November 2. Enforcement lawsuits would fly like pigeons fleeing a breezy schoolyard.

“Now, convert those rural blacks into American GIs serving abroad. Delaware, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, and Washington State are dragging their feet on the urgent task of delivering absentee ballots to overseas service members. The response at Justice’s Voting Rights Division in Washington, D.C., echoes a Louis Armstrong tune: “It’s sleepy time down South.”

Ed Morrissey: This Doesn’t Feel Like Recovery

“Regardless of the lack of negative numbers, the economy doesn’t have the feel of a recovery, with dropping demand and high unemployment. It has the feel of stagnation at poor levels of a similar kind to the 1970s, only without the inflation. It won’t take much to push the economy back into recession, and if that happens, Barack Obama and his economic policies will get all of the blame.”

GOP Strategy Goes Public in Two Days

“House Republicans plan to unveil what amounts to a campaign blueprint on Thursday in suburban Virginia, GOP sources have told CNN.

“The much anticipated announcement comes after a nearly three-month-long listening session with the public online and through town hall meetings, dubbed “America Speaking Out,” and is intended to show that House Republicans would have a governing agenda if rewarded with majority control in the congressional elections on November 2.

“Many GOP strategists call such an agenda – like the 1994 Contract with America – a critical missing ingredient for Republicans this election season to help give voters a reason to vote for GOP lawmakers, not just against Democrats.”

John Bachelor: The GOP’s Living Dead

“Careen” : to veer from side to side. Also, to take a ship ashore, roll it on its side, dry the hull, burn off the barnacles and weeds, grease it, and recover its speed and maneuverability…sorta like taking your best friend to the vet for a clean-up…

“The Republican Party has become many bad things—intolerant, inert, fly-blown, incoherent, and delusional—but the worst is that the GOP is no longer young. The GOP, according to a Gallup poll, has lost, forgotten, ignored, just generally scared off the younger voters, non-white voters, and female voters in all demographics.

“What is a political party that is vastly white, middle-aged, male, Southern, pious, conservative, aggrieved, impotent, nostalgic, rude—and regarded negatively by more than half the respondents? Time magazine’s Republican political consultant Mike Murphy looks at the demographics and warns of a coming “ice age” for the party.”

“Last week, the Seattle Weekly announced that Molly Norris, its editorial cartoonist, had “gone ghost.” Put another way, she went into hiding. The FBI told her she had to because otherwise it couldn’t protect her against death threats from Muslims she’d angered. Earlier this year, Norris started “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” to protest radical Muslims’ violently stifling freedom of speech and conscience. Incredibly, her plight has drawn precious little media attention, even though it is infinitely more newsworthy than, say, a fundamentalist preacher in Florida threatening to burn Qurans.

“When The Examiner asked the American Society of News Editors for a statement on the issue, none was forthcoming. This despite the fact that the first sentence of ASNE’s Web site describes its mission as supporting “the First Amendment at home and free speech around the world.” We got a similar response from the Society of Professional Journalists, despite its dedication “to the perpetuation of the free press as the cornerstone of our nation and liberty.”WashingtonExaminer / Editorial-Government-and-journalists-cower-at-threats-to-cartoonist.html

Sarah Palin: Iowa?

“A prominent Democratic strategist in the state said that if Palin lets all the top political talent in the state get snatched up by others and hopes that her popular appeal will carry the day, she could ‘get her clock cleaned.’

But one veteran GOP operative already committed to another presidential hopeful said Palin’s star power might very well could be enough to run on.

“‘She has an immediate leg-up on anyone looking to the Iowa Straw Poll to get a running start on the Iowa Caucuses. She makes it very difficult to break through at the straw poll because of her natural ability to fill a place like Hilton Coliseum,’ he said.

“Mark McKinnon, a former campaign adviser to President George W. Bush who wrote a piece Sunday arguing that Palin can win the primary, agreed.

“’Palin will be a hurricane in Iowa and they’ll all get swept up in the mania,’ he said by e-mail.

“Palin, he said, could go around the Iowa establishment with ease: “The hotter the water, the stronger the tea. And it’s hot out there.”

Delaware’s Numbers

The other set of numbers that gives some balance to the first is the overall state registration.

Democrats are the clear majority, with 292,738 on the state voters rolls as of September 1. Republicans have 182,796 registered voters.

“But there are also 146,212 voters not registered with either party. That is where O’Donnell’s chances lie. If there are enough disgruntled voters in that large group of independents, then she could see victory.”

Delaware’s Chris Coons: Harry Reid’s Pet

“Christine O’Donnell is the Republican nominee for the Senate in Delaware, and whatever you think of her qualifications, it is time to take a look at her opponent and decide what is at stake in this race. Chris Coons, the Democratic nominee, would be, if his record is any indication, a solid vote for tax increases, against repeal of Obamacare, for cap-and-trade, and against most GOP proposals to curb spending. He would be likely to back another stimulus package if Obama proposed one. His background indicates that he shares the president’s exception-taking to American exceptionalism. More than anything else, he would be a down-the-line, tick-the-box, reliable vote for President Obama and the Democratic leadership, whether or not that still includes Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who recently called Coons “my pet.” Here are five things you should know about Chris Coons.”

Caroline Glick: Netanyahu Leads ISR to Defeat

“The current flurry of diplomatic activity is deeply disturbing. It isn’t simply that the Obama administration has strong-armed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu into participating in diplomatic theater with the PLO whose successful completion will leave Israel weaker and less defensible. It isn’t merely that the newest “peace process” diverts our leadership’s attention away from Iran and its nuclear weapons program.
“The most disturbing aspect of the latest round of the diplomatic kabuki is that Israel’s leaders and Israel’s staunch friends in the US are enthusiastically participating in this dangerous project.”http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=188361

John Bolton – Obama’s UN Record: “Not What It’s Supposed to Be”

“Barack Obama will make his second address as president to the opening of the United Nations General Assembly on September 23, and engage in the customary ceremonies, social events, and consultations with other heads of government. Twenty months into the tenure of our most multilateral president, what has he accomplished at the U.N.? The short answer: Not much.

As with so much of the Obama administration, this U.N. thing isn’t turning out the way it was supposed to.

D.C. Schools and Supt. Michelle Rhee

“For the past three years, Washington, D.C., has been the front line of the battle between teachers’ unions and education reformers. Against staunch and strident opposition, Michelle Rhee, the schools chancellor appointed by mayor Adrian Fenty in 2007, has relentlessly implemented controversial reforms. A former inner-city public-school teacher, Rhee was determined from the beginning to transform the failing D.C. public schools, and, with Fenty’s full support and approval, aggressively pushed for a results-oriented overhaul of the system.

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CATS is a conservative publication, almost free of advertising, and has appeared at least three times per week for the last six years. It consists of abstracts from the wider press, links to original sources, and sometimes, remarks by Jim Brody.